Page 108

2014 Kansas City Gameday HQ

According to Sean Rodriguez, the old adage when it comes to home run
trots is to keep your head down and make it quick rounding the bases.
During the past couple seasons, that code has been a popular topic
of conversation, as modern-day showmanship intersects old-fashioned
standards that have been around almost as long as the game itself.
Last year, Yasiel Puig angered rivals with his ebullient—some say,
disrespectful—approach to the game that included sliding into home to
complete a walk-off homer and pointing his finger after a postseason
triple. And Atlanta catcher Brian McCann took umbrage with Milwaukee
centerfielder Carlos Gomez, after Gomez spent too much time admiring
a homer he hit and then sauntered around the bases. Old
timers screamed about the breaches. Younger players
fired back, saying the critics were out of touch with
the modern athlete. Sides were chosen. Are you procode
or pro-player?
“The game is evolving,” Tampa Bay infielder Sean
Rodriguez says. “You take what used to be and what is
now and try to come to the middle. As long as you’re
doing something to help your team, it’s okay.”
It’s difficult to determine what is all right and what
is forbidden. For more than a century, it was easy. Don’t
show anybody up, or you’ll deal with a heater under the
chin. Today, the code has codicils. The rules are more
elastic. So, we call on Kaat, who played from 1959-83,
and Rodriguez, who enters his seventh major-league
season, to provide some clarification on some of the
more elements of the code.
Don’t Look Now
McCann’s response to Gomez, while extreme, does
MICHAEL IVINS/BOSTON RED/GETTY IMAGES SPORT
represent the general feeling of players regarding how someone should
react to a hitting a homer.
“Nowadays, most pitchers are okay if you take a few steps and show
some joy,” Rodriguez says. “Some pitchers don’t like it at all. But it is an
unwritten rule that you should act like you’ve done it before.”
Kaat understands that times are different, but he isn’t thrilled by
anyone who enjoys his work too much. He certainly didn’t approve
when he pitched. Just ask former Red Sox outfielder Dwight Evans, who
The baseball code to base-stealing is a
conundrum: Don’t steal when you’re up a lot
of runs or if you’re down big.
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE